Capitol Notebook: Was that flicker a sign?

Friday

Jul 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 27, 2007 at 6:44 PM

Capitol Bureaus

Play of the Week

It was the eighth week of the state's budget stalemate. On Wednesday, lawmakers set a new record for the length of an overtime session. And on Tuesday, the stopgap budget they previously installed will expire.

That's not to say they're in a rush to make a deal: Legislative leaders waited until Thursday to have a budget discussion. And when they did meet, they excluded Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who sticks closely to his talking points even during closed-door sessions.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, once compared watching Blagojevich speak in a meeting to watching a talking head on television. Republican lawmakers indicated recently that their budget talks with the Democrats are far more productive when they don't include the governor.

Perhaps a break from meetings was just what they all needed. Madigan, House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, and Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, all have complained publicly that the meetings don't accomplish much.

People in Blagojevich's office also complain privately that the meetings are useless. Needless to say, the two groups point fingers at each other as the reason for the inertia.

The lack of meetings has given renewed life to rumors that Madigan, Cross, Watson and Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, will simply carve Blagojevich out of the budget process. The idea is they'll work out a budget deal among themselves, one that can get enough votes to override a Blagojevich veto if he decides to use it.

Head Scratcher

As members of the House of Representatives debated Thursday on the merits and shortcomings of the $1 billion electric rate-relief package, chandeliers and other lights in the room dimmed -- just for an instant.

Was it coincidence, or some kind of sign from above? If it was a sign, the intended message was not clear. Three possibilities leap to mind, though: Pass the bill. Don't pass the bill. Stop talking about it and just vote.

Quotes of Note:

"We're gonna break a record in terms of having the longest overtime session here in Illinois and I take pride in that because I'm not interested in just settling for any old budget that doesn't do anything for people. Whether we finish tomorrow, next week or next month or however long, at the end of the day it's what we do for people that matters."
- Gov. Rod Blagojevich, speaking to CBS-2 Chicago, on the eve of the record

"This is truly a great day here in the state of Illinois."
- Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, noting sarcastically on July 25 that the Democrat-controlled legislature broke its previous record for the longest legislative overtime session. The old mark was set in 2004, when lawmakers didn't approve a budget until July 24.

Numbers to Know:

75: The size, in cents, of a proposed increase in the per-pack state cigarette tax. A Senate committee voted for it Wednesday.

Then, on the next day ...

90: The size, in cents, of a proposed increase in the per-pack state cigarette tax. A Senate committee voted for the revised measure on Thursday.

Coming Up:

The temporary one-month budget that lawmakers OK'd in late June will expire on Tuesday. If no new budget is in place, a state government shutdown could begin on Wednesday.